Instantly Improve Your SEO With These 23 SEO Copywriting Hacks

If every click from Google were to stick. People would glide down your page with ease.

And, by the end of it, transform themselves into your loyal fans. Or, ever better – your repeat customers. How great would that be?

But right now, that feels like it’s a whole world away, doesn’t it?

Your bounce rates are through the roof. Your on page time is less than the average sneeze. And, your conversion rates are shocking.

You’re a few weeks away from throwing in the towel and giving up.

But, it doesn’t have to be this way:

The secrets of the best SEO copywriters are only a few scrolls away.

And, all you have to do to learn them for absolutely free is scroll down the page.

Because in this article I’m going to show you exactly what you need to do to create SEO rich content that converts more highly than ever before.

What You Will Learn

This is a super long article – it clocks in at around 9,000 words – so you’ll probably need to come back to it a few times (that’s what the bookmark button is for, right?).

But here’s a taste if what you’re going to learn over the next few thousand words:

How to write blog post introductions that slash bounce rates

How to create emotional titles tags that boost your click through rates

How to use Zombies to create better writing

How to write tantalising subheadings

#01-#03: Use These Three SEO Copywriting Hacks To Kill Bounce Rates

You might think getting people to see your content is hard. But, the real trick is getting people to read your content.

And, without a good introduction, that’s never going to happen. Why?

Because the introduction is what grabs a reader’s attention and makes the want to read the rest of the page. Let me put this in SEO terms for you.

Imagine I’m looking to improve my overall Triathlon time.

I might search something like this in Google:

My intent here is to find out how I can improve my triathlon time. Go figure, right? But that’s something a lot of people forget.

So when I land on a piece of content from the search results below, I want to know that you’re going to answer my question.

The first page from Men’s Fitness, depsite being a big name in the industry, fails to do that.

The introduction is weak and doesn’t grip you:

With that introduction I’d switch off and bounce to another page. Not ideal for the site owner.

And, if I move down the page, I find an introduction that actually resonates with me.

While it may be from a lesser brand, it’s told me it can answer my questions and hit an emotional chord with me. (I’m always looking at my old race times when I think about improving for my next race).

But how do you write better introductions?

Well, you don’t need hours of practice.

Instead, you can just employ these three introduction hacks to get better right now…

Hack #1: Start With A Question?

Do you know what’s amazing about human psychology?

It’s that we always want to create the complete picture.

And, questions are the perfect way to dig into that psychology. Why?

Because no matter how often I ask you a question you have the subconscious desire to find out what the answer is.

I’ve been doing it since the start of this article – and this section – and you’re still here.

Not only does it create interest in your article straight away, it also guides the reader down the page unknowingly – much like Bucket Brigades that we’ll talk about later.

This is such a simple hack that so many bloggers and writers overlook.

If you want an excellent example of this style of opening, head over to SmartBlogger. Jon Morrow and his writing team have this down to absolute perfection.

You take an emotion, or a common belief, and press them about it. Passive Income does sound enticing. And, you want to read the next section to find out exactly what’s so enticing about it.

Then he hits you with a bundle of emotions about the topic. Because he’s got you with the first question, he’s able to hit you with a big right hook of emotions.

I’ve used this same technique in my articles and got great success:

In the text box below I’ve included some copy and paste introduction questions that you can use to start your own articles.

Just fit your words into the gaps provided.

Copy and Paste Introduction Questions

What if I told you that [subject] doesn’t need to be [power word] or [power word]?

What if told you that baking doesn’t need to be messy or dirty?

What if I told you that photography doesn’t need to be hard or expensive?

What if I told you that meditation doesn’t need to be confusing or boring?

Don’t know what a power word is? Keep reading this article to find out!

It sounds [emotion], right?

It sounds scary, right?

It sounds crazy, right?

It sounds beautiful, right?

How many times have you tried to [subject] but found yourself in [undesireable situation]?

How many times have you tried going to the gym but found yourself bored and fat after two months?

How many times have you tried forming a new habit but found yourself back to old ways in just days?

How many times have you tried to learn German and found yourself not being able to get past Hallo?

Have you ever wished that you could [desired action] without having to [undesired action]?

Have you ever wished that you could get a new phone without paying hundreds of dollars in monthly fees?

Have you ever wished that you could eat carbs without having to worry about piling on the pounds?

Have you ever wised that you could pick up girls without have to learn how to become a pick up artists?

Do you [improved situation] when you [take action]?

Do you smell better when you wear cologne?

Do you get less injuries when you use a foam roller?

Do you save energy when you use LED light bulbs?

All you have to do now is give them an emotional spike that makes them want to read the rest of your article because they know they’re in the right place.

Hack #2: The APP Method

This is an introduction method used by Brian Dean in his Copywriting Case Studies. And, it’s so effective I couldn’t not include it.

The methodology is simple:

Agree: Recognise the reader’s problem, acknowledge it and agree with it.

Promise: Make a promise about fixing their problem.

Preview:Give them a taste of what you’re going to show them in the article.

Or, if you’re a visual learner, take a look at this infographic…

If I’m honest this is one of the most useful frameworks you can use if you’re stuck for ideas.

Because all you have to do is fill in the blanks and you have an instantly good introduction.

Let’s take a look at it in action, shall we?

Here’s a sample blog post from Stencil. I’ve chosen this because I wanted to show you the method in action without Brian being the one to have written it.

The first step the author takes is to agree with the reader. Take the problem and go, “You know what, I agree, doing that is seriously not enjoyable”.

It’s simple, but it’s perfect. That first set of sentences instantly shows a reader they’re at the right article for their search query. You’ve matched their search intent.

The next step is to make a promise and give a preview. Now, there are two ways you can approach this. You can either roll them into one, or you can make them separate.

In my experience I’ve found either of them work, it all depends on your article and audience. Here – because they use shorter articles and have a short window to grab attention – they’ve rolled it into one:

To give you another idea of how this works in practice, take a look at the screen shot below from this very blog-

Although it is tweaked slightly, it follow the same premise.

They tell you the problem that they’re going to fix, and tell you what they’re going to show you in the article. It’s quick, simple and effective.

So, how do you use this hack for yourself? Well, all you have to do is take the example from the cheat sheet below and use it for yourself…

APP Method Cheat Sheet

I’m sure you’ll agree with me when I say:

Doing [subject] is really [bad emotion or situation].

Or, is it?

Well it turns out that [achieving desired situation] may not be as [emotion] as you’d have thought. All you have do is [solution].

In this article I’m going to show you exactly how I [achieved goal/got result].

If you want to know more, all you have to do is read on…

Example Intro #1

“I’m sure you’ll agree with me when I say:

Travel Hacking is really hard to wrap your head around.

Or, is it?

Well it turns out that getting all the points that you need to fly for free may not be as hard (or as confusing) as you may have thought. All you have to do is follow a simple system.

In this article I’m going to show you how I used this Travel Hacking system to fly return from New York to Sao Paulo for free, with a night’s free hotel stay thrown in too.

If you want to save money on travel and make sense of Travel Hacking, all you have to so is read on…”

Hack #3: Build ‘Em Up And Knock ‘Em Down

It’s an old NLP method I picked up when I worked in corporate companies back in the UK.

And, now it works brilliantly to get people to read your articles.

It takes three steps:

The Desired Situation: Let them picture where they want to be.

The Current Situation: Bring them back down to earth.

Offer A Bridge: Create a bridge between the two situations, and position your article as the solution.

Quite often you’ll find copywriters use just one step of this process. Maybe two, when they preview their article. But when you put all three together you really feel the benefit of it.

I even used it in the introduction of this article to drag you down the page.

Here it is in action, with the first step I build the big picture of what you want from SEO copywriting.

In the second step, I reiterate where you are now. That makes you feel the pain and discomfort of where you are right now.

That’s the current situation section:

Then, finally, I make this article the bridge that closes the gap on the two:

Boom! That’s the end of it. You’re hooked and can’t help but scroll down. It ticks all the boxes:

Matches the search query

Contains emotion

Poses questions

Adds a promise

Previews the content

Leaving your reader poised and ready to devour the next few hundreds (or thousand) words that you’re about to give them.

Want to use this for yourself? Here’s a cheat sheet to help you use it in your own articles.

The Bridge Model Cheat Sheet

Image you could [desired situation]. How good would your life be?

If you could [paint a picture of their ideal world. What they strive for and what they wish they had].

But, right now, here you are. Without any of that.

[Paint picture of their current situation]. What went wrong?

But, it doesn’t have to be this way:

There is a way you can start [subject]. And, it’s not too hard to do for yourself. All of the answers you need are right here in this article. To get them, you just need to read on.

Example Intro

“Imagine you could make all of your money through your blog. How good would it be?

You could lift up the lid of your laptop, write a few blog posts, connect with your readers – then sit back, relax and watch the money roll in. It’s the dream, right?

But right now, here you are. Sat in front of your laptop, reading this article, wishing that was your life.

You’ve tried all of the courses. You’ve listened to all of the webinars. And, you’ve poured your heart and soul into finding your passion. And while it feels like everybody esle can make a living from blogging – you’re struggling to put food in your belly.

But, it doesn’t have to be this way:

There is a way you can start monetising your blog. And you’ve been sitting on top of at all along. It doesn’t cost you any money, and you’ll find all the answers for free right here in this article.

It’s not the most exciting style in the world. But, for search, it works. You’re able to capture scanners and pull them in at the points in the content that they want to read.

If you want to use it for a non-how-to article – like a social commentary – you can even spice it up a little:

Main Headline: Why Coffee Saved My LifeSubheading #1: Before Coffee I Was Weak And FeebleSubheading #2: But After Coffee…What A ChangeSubheading #3: My Observation Skills Went Through The RoofSubheading #4: I Became More Productive At WorkSubheading #5: I Save Hundreds Of DollarsSubheading #6: But I’ve Not Slept In Six Months…

Just be sure to follow the story of the promise that your headline makes.

The SmartBlogger Technique

Best For: Blog Posts, Tutorials, Commentary

SmartBlogger are excellent Subheading writers. And I’ve stolen some of their tactics for my own use in the past.

This mixture of feelings creates a powerful pulling emotion that draws you in. Here are some of my favourites:

Creating this mixture of emotions might sound hard, but if you follow these next few points, you’ll do it easily.

Don’t give away the answer: Don’t tell your reader what they need to know in the subhead. For example, “Eat Five Fruit and Vegetables A Day” becomes, “The Real Amount Of Fruit and Vegetables You Need To Eat…”

Don’t just attach labels: A label just tells you what the next section is, for example, “Important Coffee Ingredients”. Adding intrigue here can capture more scanners, for example, “The Coffee Ingredients That Improve Your Focus” would be more benefit driven and interesting.

Don’t be cryptic: In trying to create curiosity it’s common to mask the point altogether. For example, if you’re writing an article about baking, creating a subhead that says “Don’t Whisk Away Your Dreams!” doesn’t make much sense out of context.

The key with their style of headline is to make a point and draw the reader in, without letting the reader walk away from your article full of knowledge from just the headlines.

The Benefit Driven Subheading

The final type of SubHeading that I recommend is the Benefit Driven style.

That means your headline should display the benefit of reading the next step in the article.

This is quite easy to do. Instead of looking at what your next section is about, think about what it allows the person to do after they’ve read it.

Let’s say you’re writing an article about How To Write An eBook. Which of these two subheadings would be more appealing?

#1: How To Choose The Right Cover Design#2: How To Choose A Cover That Sells More Books

Probably the second one, right?

Because if I’m writing a book I want to make money from it. If having the right cover design helps, then I’m in.

When trying to choose a benefit I find it asks the question, “Which allows them to do what?”.

Choosing the right cover design = selling more copies of the book = How To Choose A Cover That Sells More Books

Choosing the right font = people will read more of your book = The Fonts Your Audience Will Love To Read

Free formatting tools = you spend less money on your book = How To Format Your Entire Book For Free

It’s simple, easy and effective for getting people to dive into the next section of your article.

#14: Clear Up Your Bad Code

It can read any code, as long as it’s used in the correct way. After all, not every site will be perfect, and not everyone is a web designer.

However…

I’m still a firm believer that having clean code, with as few mistakes as possible, has an impact on rankings.

With all of my clients sites, and my own sites, I like to make sure everything is correct (much the dismay of Guest Bloggers sometimes).

And when you’re writing blog posts – especially if you use Microsoft Word or Google Docs – and putting them into WordPress, you can find yourself with a lot of crappy code that makes your site harder to crawl.

Let me show you:

Take this blog post excerpt that’s been created in Google Docs. It looks all fine and pretty here, right?

Well, let’s take that and copy it into the WordPress Visual Editor as most bloggers and copywriters would do. Again, it looks all find and okay from a user point of view.

But if I go ahead and click the Text tab at the top of the page, you’ll see that it unlocks an absolute HTML nightmare behind it.

That you, or I, would never notice. But those Google crawlers are highly aware of:

There are Span Tags everywhere:

And you’ll find that there are unneeded spaces around Bold and Italic words that just don’t need to be there.

Ideally, you want your code to look clean and easy to read on the back end. No spaces, unusual tags or pointless other code that doesn’t serve a purpose.

Google is trying to find the answer to a query as quickly as possibly and you need to make that as easy as possible.

That’s why making your back end code look like this makes all of the difference (this is the above, cleaned up):

You can make this clean by using a Word Processor, so don’t fret if you’re not sure what you’re doing. Just copy it back, with the code, and then select the pieces you want to remove:

Then, once it’s all clear, copy it back into the text section of WordPress and it’ll go onto the site without the extra code.

You can even go back and do this through all of your existing blog posts and improve your crawl-ability in a heartbeat.

#15: Write For A Middle-School Reading Level

Have you ever wondered why most corporate blogs are so freaking boring? Well, it has a lot to do with the type of words they use.

Not only are they boring, they’re actually really hard to read. The long terms, business speak and buzzwords all make them difficult to interpret. But, why is that?

Well, most people who come to your site don’t read English to a high level. That goes for most of the world’s population.

Firstly, take a look at this screenshot from one of the Internet Marketing sites I work with:

Six out of ten countries on that list of countries will have learned English as a second language.

Meaning their English probably won’t be at a native reading level. They may even be using translation tools to help them understand.

So if you’re writing at above this level, you’re going to be creating content that people just can’t read (at least not enjoyably).

But, what does that mean for your SEO? Well, allow me to explain…

If people aren’t able to read or enjoy your content, they aren’t going to be able to:

Link back to your content

Share your content

Understand what you’re saying and build your brand

That means you’ve wasted a lot of time writing content for no gain at all.

Let’s go through an example together. Take a look at these two quotes about language learning. Which of these two quotes is easiest to read?

Quote A:

“When you embark upon learning a new language it can often be difficult to differentiate between the different tones, nuances and inflections in people’s voices.

This is because they all originate in different areas, with their own dialects. To become proficient at this you need to invest lots of time and dedicate specific blocks of time throughout your week to be able to become attuned to this plethora of vocal ranges.

If you would be interested in learning how to listen to a language more effectively, please feel free to download our manifesto from the link below”

Or, Quote B:

“When you first learn a language, listening can be really hard! People’s voices sound really different, and it’s rare two are the same.

This is because each region has it’s own type of language called a dialect, and this can change how words are being said.

But, don’t worry!

By taking some time to practice throughout the week, you can start to understand all of these different tones of voice.

And, if you really want to get better at listening, you can download our manifesto below!”

It’s quote B, right? Because it uses simpler words and it sounds like someone talking to you.

Nobody speaks like that first comment. You’re engaged, connected and don’t need to stop to look up any of the words in a dictionary.

But, how do you measure what level your text is at, and what should you be aiming for? Well, that’s pretty simple.

In your Word Processor you should have a Readability statistics option. It’ll more than likely come under Spelling and Grammar. That will show you a box like this:

The bottom paragraph, the readability stats, are what you care about here. More importantly the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level.

Now, I won’t bore you with what all of that is. Instead I’ll tell you this – the number used is the grade of school that can read your text.

You want to aim to get this between a 7 .0 and 8.0 for most of your blog posts.

If you can get it down to a 5.0 or a 6.0 even better. But, it’s hard if your niche does have some specific industry terms.

The best way to do this is to go through your content multiple times and figure out if you can explain it in a more simple way. Or, if it’s how you’d actually speak.

Take out the big, unimportant, words and make it as easy to access as possible.

#16: Create Stand Out Title Tags

Brian Dean sent out an email a little while ago that talked through exactly how he managed to boost his organic traffic by 45.5% in just 7 days.

Here’s a snippet of the email if you missed it…

In it, he talks about adding emotion to your Page Titles Tags.

If you’re not sure what a title tag is, it’s the headline people see in Google for your article (which can look separate to your actual headline).

Like in the image below:

Adding emotion isn’t hard, either. According to Brain all you need to do is add one positive or negative emotion into your Title Tag.

Either will work and they’ll improve your CTR.

For example, let’s say I wanted to create a headline about different types of Fashionable Hats for Men.

The base headline would look like this:

10 Hats For Your New Outfit This Spring

That’s an okay headline, and it gets straight to the point. But, how do you make it emotional?

The simplest way is to add a power word (more on those later) at the beginning of the headline.

Awesome! 10 Hats For Your New Outfit This Spring

Snappy! 10 Hats For Your New Outfit This Spring

Phwoar! 10 Hats For Your New Outfit This Spring

Already you can see that’s added a new feel to the headline. It’s eye-catching, hits them with an emotion straight away.

But are there any other ways you can do it? Too right there are!

One I like to experiment with is sprinkling a power word into the headline at different points.

Let me show you…

10 Sexy Hats For Your New Outfit This Spring

10 Hats For Your Dazzling New Outfit This Spring

10 Hats To Ruin Your New Outfit This Spring

This makes the headline much more appealing, interesting and emotional. (Why will these hats ruin my new outfit?).

But how do you set up your Title Tags? The simplest way is to use the free Yoast SEO tool. It tacks onto the end of your blog posts and you can edit everything there.

You’re able to see how it’s going to look in Google, too. Meaning you can get the job done right the first time!

Split Testing Your Titles Easily

For every post I publish on this blog, I always write 3 different titles and split test them.

Meta Description Cheat Sheet

Instead of just giving you some generic descriptions you can’t use, I’ve built these to fit the three most common post types.

And, they can updated to fit any style of post you may write, too.

How To Article

Want to know how to [keyword]? Then you need this guide! Inside you’ll find [X] simple techniques to help you [subject] without [undesired situation].

Want to know how to make sushi? Then you need this guide! Inside you’ll find 15 simple techniques to help you make sushi without the mess.

Want to know how to see Berlin in 24 hours? Then you need this guide! Inside you’ll find 10 must see tourist attractions to help you see Berlin without getting lost.

Want to know how to lose fat? Then you need this guide! Inside you’ll find 10 simple fat loss techniques to help you burn the fat without giving up your life.

List Post

[Subject] getting you down? Then you’re in the right place. This list of [X] [things] about [keyword] will make you [positive emotion].

Writing meta descriptions getting you down? Then you’re in the right place. This list of 10 perfect meta description examples will make you over the moon!

Learning Spanish getting you down? Well, you’re in the right place. This list of 20 spanish language hacks will have you convering in no time.

Finding books to read getting you down? Then you’re in the right place! This lisot of 8 successful business books will solve all your problems!

Business Home Page

Looking for a [business type] [location]? Then look no further. We’re specialists in [subject] and we want to help you [get desired result].

Looking for a Plumber in London? Then look no further. We’re specialists in Plumbing and Heating and we want to help you for the best price.

Looking for Thai food in San Franciso? Then look no further. Here at Try Thai we make Thai Street food with a twist, to fill you up and spice up your pallet!

Looking for Furniture Removals in Sydney? Here at Puolos Removals we try and make your move as easy as possible! Click here to find out more.

#18: Say What You Mean

When you write there are two elements to it. What you wrote and what you meant.

As the fitness blogger and New York Times bestselling author, John Romaniello, puts it:

“Everyone can read what you wrote; the only person who truly knows what you meant was you. There is often a pretty big gulf between those two things.”

But closing that gap and creating content that people understand isn’t hard at all. In fact you can do it by using bold and italic writing. And while this may sound like a nice to have and not a need to have, you’d be wrong:

By describing yourself more accurately you not only create more engaging content – thus improving on-page time and the amount of your content that is read – you also make your content more scannable.

Reading on the internet takes up to 25% longer than on paper, so people are more likely to scan through your content. Using bold and italics will catch their eye as they skim and mean that the sentences that they are picking out help your overall.

Now I don’t want to turn this into too much of a writing class, so here’s what I suggest you do…. Whenever you type something, read it back to yourself, and look for where you

Whenever you type something, read it back to yourself, and look for where you should be stressing a point.

#19: Use A Serif Font To Mind Control Your Readers

For example, if someone was to send you their resume and it was written in Comic Sans, you’d assume a small child had written it.

But if you get it in Times New Roman or Calibri, it feels a lot more professional.

Now, not only can your font set the tone for your content, it can also impact how long people read for.

When people read they follow something called a scan path. And, for most people who’s language goes from left to right across the page, we follow a path like this:And the font that you choose can either help someone along that path, or cause someone to drop off. Without getting too in detail, let me explin…

There are two types of fonts you need to know about. Serif fonts and Sans Serif.

Serif fonts are the fonts that have a little flick at the end of each letter, like handwriting and Sans Serif fonts don’t have that.

That little flick can be the difference between someone staying on your content for longer, or dropping off early.

As Andy Maslen points out in his book Write To Sell, it shuffles people down the page and makes them read for longer.

As the Crew blog found, these fonts can also impact how people feel about your content. Like how the fonts on Medium have a calming, but authoriative, feeling to them.

Now this isn’t essential for you. After all, you’ll notice that I don’t use a Serif font on this blog. But what I have found is that if you don’t use a Serif font it’s important to use a BIGGER font.

Big fonts are easier to read. More accessible. And, while they may not be too aesthetically pleasing, they convert much higher. As I also found in my test of other page layouts.

Go big or go serif; it’s your choice.

#20: Get Comfortable With Power Words

Power Words have insane potential for your SEO copywriting. They’re the most, well…powerful words you can use. But what is a power word?

It’s a word that creates and emotion in someone. When it’s read, it evokes a feeling in someone that compels them to think, feel or take an action. They’re also words that stick in your mind.

You can use them in your headlines, your text, you calls to action and everywhere between to create a response in someone.

Now there are hundreds of power words you can use, so I’m going to refer you to this guide that contains all of them, and seperates them by letter.

Or, if you want to know which words create an emotion, you can check out this SEO copywriting guide from SumoMe.

You can also pickup either of these awesome copywriting books-

These are great books to have lying around on your desk for quick reference when writing any type of copy and are jam packed with power words.

They are structured by descriptors and benefits – for example if you wanted to create the feeling of Romance, you could instantly find all the right words to do that-

There are also a bunch of extra copy writing tips, structures and more for quick reference and perfect for anyone that wants to improve their SEO copywriting skills.

#21: Use The Active Voice

The active voice is a way of writing (or speaking) that has a lot more clarity. It uses fewer words and reads a lot better.

Now I don’t want to give you a grammar lecture here. Instead, I want to show you first what it is. And then what it means for SEO.

Okay, before your eyes glaze over, hear me out. At school you’re taught to write in the passive voice and that is bad for SEO. Mainly because it’s really hard to read, and doesn’t create a good user experience.

Passive voice is like this:

[Object] – [Action] – [Person]

The SEO was done by Matt.

The Guitar is plays by James.

The pizza was eaten by Michael.

See the difference? It makes sentences longer and it’s really d*** boring to read. People will switch off and your on page time will plummet.

Take a look at these two examples and tell me which one is easier to read.

This one:

The SEO is done differently by our technical team. We aim to find the best and most highly ranking keywords and use them strategically so that your site can be ranked well by Google and help you generate from new clients.

Or, this one:

We do SEO differently here. We find the highest ranking keywords and strategically place them on your site so that you can rank higher and generate new income from new clients.

The second one, right? Not only is it shorter, it’s like someone is talking to you. It has a snap, crackle and pop. Which is exactly what you’re looking for.

If you’re unsure if you’re using passive voice – most non-Grammar Geeks are – here’s a simple trick to follow from Rebecca Johnson:

I finally learned how to teach my guys to ID the passive voice. If you can insert “by zombies” after the verb, you have passive voice.

#23: Link Internally (Like, All The Time)

One of the first tips I ever give to a new copywriter is to make the most of internal linking.

If you’re not sure what it is, internal linking is where you link from one page on your site to another. For example, if I mention Snapchat in an article, I can link to one of my articles about Snapchat.

Not only does this increase the time people spend on your site, it also allows you to spread the power you get from Backlinks to your site around to different areas of your site.

Increasing your overall presence in the eyes of google.

It also makes your site quite easy to crawl, because there are many ports of call where the ‘spiders’ can find their way to different parts of your site.

When you don’thave backlinks, creating a site structure like this is of real importance to you.